What are the best exercises to improve balance for surfing? The Editors Santa Fe, New Mexico

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A good place to start is to improve your ability to get to your feet quickly and maintain balance on the board. Try adding drop squats to your workout. They'll help you learn to reestablish your balance on the board as fast as possible to help you get up on a wave. Drop squats are dynamic, so warm up with sumo squats and lateral squats.

For the drop squats, start by standing tall, and then pick your feet off the floor and land in a squat position. Watch this video for a demonstration. Pay attention to your feet, making sure your weight is balanced on the middle of your foot and not too much on your toes or heels.

Once you're up on the board, your stability will be the limiting factor to ride faster and turn harder. Cable chops and cable lifts are terrific to incorporate into your training because your arms move while your torso remains stable over your base of support, similar to when you're on a board.